Feral Child
by LittleGrapefruit
Summary: What happens when two somewhat upset hunters tell Hinata and her father of something mysterious that is roaming in the forest nearby? And what happens when Hinata decides to take care of this mysterious something? Neji can only hope for the best... AU
1. Chapter 1

Hinata listened to the conversation, or rather yelling from at least one part, going on around her. She was sitting at the breakfast table with her father, and watched in half amusement the two men in the door frame as they frantically tried to tell Hiashi, her father, about something they apparently, at least as she could make out, had seen in the forest. She tried not to smile as the two of them rambled on, and she noted the frown on her father's face which told her that his patience was disappearing rapidly.

The two men were hunters from the village. They were both young, which could clearly be made out because of the raspy voices they talked in. They wore normal, brown clothing and each their bow, which made them a big contrast to everything around them. Yet they did not seem to be bothered by that, and they were still trying to explain something that could not for everything good in the world be made out, as they were both talking at the same time.

Hinata cast a glance at her father, and saw that he was about to explode. And a second later he did.

"Enough!" he roared, and both the teens promptly shut their mouths. Both of them looked frightened; this was the lord of the lands, after all. The power he held was not to be argued on.

Hiashi rose from his chair and stared down at the two youngsters. One of his eyebrow were about to disappear into his hairline. He seemed to have had enough of rambling teenagers.

"I cannot make out a single thing of what you two are saying," he said sternly. "Please repeat yourselves, Hagane, Amon."

Hagane, the oldest of them, spoke up before Amon could get the chance.

"It happened earlier this morning, sir, when my brother and I was hunting in the forest. We started out kinda early, so it was almost dark, and – "

"Get to the point," Hiashi snarled. It was clearly visible that his patience was long gone. Hagane cowered, seemingly both because of fright and the annoying fact that he wouldn't be able to give a long speech about what a great hunter he was.

"W-we saw something suspicious in the forest," he muttered. It looked like he suddenly thought what he said sounded stupid. Hinata felt a little sorry for him. Being exposed to her father's anger was not something likeable.

Though now it seemed that Hiashi's interest had been kicked into gear. His eyebrow fell down to its normal place, and he unfolded the arms he had held crossed in front of his chest.

"Something suspicious? What do you mean?"

Hagane apparently took this as a good sign, because he continued with a little higher spirit.

"I don't know what it was, but it seemed like a big animal. We had gone a little longer into the forest than we usually do, and when we were following the trails of a young deer we suddenly saw something dark in between the trees. We were both hidden, so it didn't see us, but it looked like it was walking on its hind legs. But the weirdest thing was that it was followed by a pack of foxes. We saw them, because they ran out from the trees and across the trail we were following."

"And scared away the deer," Amon added sourly.

Hiashi's eyebrows knitted together in a worried frown. The woods around the area were all his, so if something was running around in them and posing a threat to humans he would have to take responsibility if something happened.

"Thank you for telling me this," he said and turned away from the two hunters. "You can both go down to the kitchen and have the cook prepare a meal for you since you lost the deer. Just tell her I sent you."

Hagane and Amon looked like the Christmas Eve had come early. They sprinted out of the room without even the slightest curt bow and ran straight for the kitchen.

Hiashi ran a hand through his hair when they had disappeared and let out a sigh. Hinata got up and went over to him.

"Is there anything I can do to help, father?" she asked quietly. She didn't have the best of relations with her father, but if she could be of assistance to him, she would do what she could.

Hiashi looked surprised down at her, eyed her small figure and gave a loud snort.

"I do not think there is much you can do, Hinata," he said and turned away from her. "Neji."

"Uncle."

Neji, Hinata's cousin, had appeared from seemingly nowhere. He stood in the door frame, ready to listen to what his uncle wanted. Hiashi waved him closer, and he stepped into the room and walked over to stand in front of her father.

"I have just received a message from two hunters who have spotted a strange animal in my woods. I cannot have something dangerous running about, so I want you to form a search party of six men and try and find this animal. If necessary, you will kill it. Otherwise bring it back. Understood?"

Hinata's curiosity perked up. A search party? Walk around looking for something maybe dangerous? It sounded risky, scary, and yet she wanted to come with them. She was tired of her father thinking of her as a fragile flower; she wanted to prove to him that she wasn't.

She watched as Neji nodded quickly and turned to leave, and before she could try to reason with herself, she burst out:

"F-father, can I go with them?"

Both men turned around and looked at her, her father's expression showing a strange mix of astonishment, anger and fright. Neji just looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She felt her courage fail her a little, but she hurriedly spoke before her father could find his voice again.

"I-I am nearing seventeen years now, father. Do you not agree that it is time I do something other than draw and play piano? A-after all, you yourself told me that you did not want me to spend my life doing nothing just because I am a girl." She hoped that bringing up something he himself had said would help her, but when she saw that his expression didn't change she looked quickly away. "A-at least I think so," she added, mumbling.

Hiashi didn't say anything until almost half a minute later.

"No."

Hinata felt her stomach sink. Deep down she had probably expected this to be his answer, but she had hoped that it wouldn't.

"B-but father, I – "

"I said no, Hinata! It is far too dangerous for you!"

"But why? Neji is only a year older than me, and he is the one you are leaving in charge of the entire search team!"

"That is because Neji is a – "

Hiashi stopped abruptly, and instead he rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers, as if he was being put through something very tiring.

"I will not allow you, Hinata. Do not argue with me."

Hinata took this as defeat; it wasn't safe to argue too much with her father. She was about to leave the room when Neji suddenly spoke up, startling her a little.

"Uncle, if it is all right, I would like to bring Hinata with us."

Hinata turned, completely dumbfounded. So was her father, it seemed. He stared at Neji in the same manner he had been staring at her minutes earlier.

"Excuse me?" Hiashi's voice had a dangerous, cold tone.

"She would be a great help for finding the tracks of this animal. Women have a greater sense for small details than men, and I dare think that will prove useful to us."

Hiashi stared at both of them as if they had suddenly grown tentacles. Then it seemed like he relented.

"All right," he said, voice giving away something akin to defeat. "She can come with you. But if any harm comes to her, you will carry full responsibility! And keep her on a horse!"

Neji gave a curt bow, and turned to leave with Hinata in tow.

"Thank you," she whispered to him before she ran off to get ready before her father could change his mind.

The forest seemed oddly quiet, even though the sounds of soft leather shoes against the wet ground and the quiet steps of horse hooves surrounded Hinata on all edges. The men were talking amongst themselves, yet it seemed like no matter how loud they were speaking they wouldn't be able to break the silence the forest held. Or maybe it was just she who had blocked out everything other than suspicious-sounding noises. She was determined to at least discover one important thing, so that she could live up to what Neji had said, and what her father now expected of her.

Neji was walking beside her horse, probably because Hiashi had ordered him to. He had probably made sure that Neji swore to never be more than two meters away from her, to be able to aid her in case something happened. It annoyed her, because she was starting to feel 'the call of nature' and therefore wondered how in the hell she was supposed to be able to do what she needed when she had a bunch of men surrounding her at all time.

She bent down towards Neji and opened her mouth to say something, but before she managed she felt Neji's hands clamp down on her shoulders and push her into a safe position again.

"Be careful, Hinata," he said. His voice sounded worried, but whether it was from concern for her or fear of getting killed by Hiashi if something happened to her, she could not know.

She relented and sat back up again, just to ease his nerves a little. But she went on with what she had wanted to say.

"Neji, can we take a break? We are already deep within the woods, and we have seen nothing. Would it not be wise to stop and look around for a while?" She hid her ulterior motive, of course.

Neji looked like he pondered over whether it was a good idea or not, all the while staring at her as if he was judging just how safe it would be to let her down on the ground. She smiled at him, and a moment later it seemed he decided.

"We will take a short break here, to investigate this area further. We are close to where the animal was spotted, and it is likely to find trails of it around here. We don't know what we are dealing with, so be careful."

He turned towards the six men and sent them each out in their own direction. Hinata took that opportunity to slide down from the horse and run in between the trees. She was starting to feel the slightest bit uncomfortable; needing to visit a toilet in the middle of a gigantic forest wasn't something she liked. She pondered whether she should just wait; it was probably not very smart to run off like that.

"Neji is probably worried about me," she thought, a slight twinge of guilt bothering her conscience. But before the guilt could start gnawing at her for real, her train of thoughts were interrupted by the sound of soft footsteps and rattling from several bushes a small distance ahead. The trees around her were all thick oaks, with a few birches spread in between, making it hard to see past the big tree trunks. All the moss covering the ground didn't help either, because it absorbed all the sounds, but she could hear it coming definitely closer. She could feel cold sweat start to form on her back, and her hands began to shake ever so little. How could she be so stupid?! To leave the group when she knew there was something out there was just immensely stupid! And poor Neji; what would happen to him if she got killed by an animal? He wouldn't live to see the next sunrise.

The sounds were coming closer, and she now heard that it was a pack. There was more than one pair of footsteps, although she could make out one of them to be heavier than the others.

By now she realized that she should be hiding. She looked around frantically, searching for even the smallest hiding place with her eyes filled with tears. If it was something she didn't want, it was to be torn apart by the claws of a monster. She took in the surroundings in a blur of colours; the trees, the ground, the small bushes. Nothing fit. The trees had no branches she could climb on, there were no holes in the ground and the bushes were all way too small. Ironically enough she was standing in the middle of what looked like a tiny clearing.

"Neji, father, I'm so sorry," she thought miserably. Fear was making her almost incapable of breathing, not to mention moving, so she just stood frozen as whatever it was came straight towards her. She closed her eyes, trying to shut out what was happening.

Something burst out into the clearing from behind her, and she spun around on reflex. What met her was simply surprising. A small pack of foxes had skidded to a halt at the outer edge of the clearing, staring at her with suspicious eyes. For a moment Hinata felt incredibly relieved, but then another, much bigger creature, came into view. Hinata felt her breath get caught in her throat, and the fear she had lost moments ago returned with renewed strength.

It was a human boy, tall and slender, with golden hair and outstandingly blue eyes. He halted when he caught sight of her, stopping right in the middle of the pack of foxes. Hinata couldn't help but stare at him. He was dirty and, embarrassingly enough, stark naked, but it was as if an animalistic beauty radiated from him. His muscles tensed as he stared at her warily, measuring her as if to see what kind of threat she was.

By now it seemed the foxes decided to make a run for it. The turned and fled, obviously expecting the boy to follow them, which he did not. One of the foxes stopped to wait for him, and Hinata half expected him to disappear, which would probably be the best outcome for her. But to her fear-filled surprise all he did was to let out a low, growling sound, and the fox which had waited for him turned and followed the pack.

Hinata tried to make her breath function the right way. She felt like she wasn't getting enough oxygen, and the fact that the boy now had started moving closer to her didn't help at all.

"D-don't come closer," she said, her voice sounding weak, and she held out a hand as if to push him away, only that he wasn't close enough for her to do that. But in some way it seemed to work, at least for a little while. He stopped when he heard her talk, and cocked his head to the side as if he was watching something that made him very curious. But a moment after he moved forward again, and Hinata found out that this was a good time to start moving backwards. She warily put one foot behind the other, all the time watching the boy. He followed suit, actually if anything he sped up the tiniest fraction. Suddenly Hinata felt her foot get caught in something, and she fell. She mentally cursed that damn root that had tripped her and tried to get up quickly. The only problem was that the boy was now towering over her, staring at her with curiosity. Hinata felt like she wanted to cry.

"This is probably the end of me," she thought to herself, trying to shuffle backwards only to find her back pressed up against a tree trunk. She held her breath and tried not to whimper just in case it would act as a threat and make the boy go on a rampage, yet a tiny little sound escaped her lips, very akin to a sob. She watched with horror as the boy crouched down, and tried not to think about how naked he was. She half expected him to grab a hold of her and rip her apart or start gnawing at her, but he did neither of them. He reached out a hand and stroked her face, from her forehead to her chin, as if he wanted to feel the contours, and then he went to her shoulder and tugged at the clothing covering it. He stretched out the other arm too and with both hands he started patting her hair. It felt soothing, in a way. It almost reminded her of how her mother had used to stroke her hair when she was little. He leaned closer, and to her astonishment he started sniffing at her. It was almost like he was exploring her, and it felt embarrassing.

"Hinata! Hinataa!"

Hinata's head shot up so fast that she almost clashed her forehead into the boy's. She pushed him away without even thinking of possible consequences, jumped up and shouted:

"I'm here!"

It was Neji's voice which had called for her, and judging by the strength of it he wasn't far away. She was right. Only a couple of moments later Neji and the rest of the search team burst into the clearing, their weapons ready in hand. They all stopped short when they saw the strange-looking boy which was standing only a couple of feet away from Hinata. The only one who ignored him was Neji. He ran over to her and took a good hold on her to support her.

"Hinata, are you okay?" he asked frantically, eyes searching for the smallest scrape or injury. She could only nod, too relieved to say anything. At least now she knew, at least half-way, that the boy wasn't dangerous. He hadn't hurt her, after all.

"Are you sure?" Neji insisted, but before he could go on one of the men called his attention.

"Neji-sama, what should we do with him?"

Neji turned, irritated.

"What are you – " Then he noticed the now tensed-up boy which was slowly backing away from them. Neji's eyes widened as he took in the appearance before him, and then he turned his head towards Hinata.

"He's not dangerous," she said in a hurry. "He hasn't hurt me."

"Yeah, I can see that. But who is he?"

"I don't know," Hinata admitted. "But – "

Neji had already turned away from her again.

"Never mind that, we have to get you back." He placed his arm firmly around her and started to guide her towards where they had come from, and then everything suddenly happened very fast.

"Neji-sama, watch out!" one of the men yelled, and a moment later the boy attacked Neji, dragging him with him as they fell down on the ground and thus dragging Hinata with them. The look of curiosity that had been glinting in the eyes of the boy before Neji had come was now replaced by a frightening rage. Hinata didn't understand that; he had seemed like such a peaceful and childish being, but what she saw now scared her. And on top of it all she was in the middle of their fighting. She tried to crawl away, but by now Neji had managed to get up, and his foot landed hard on the ground only inches away from Hinata's face. She tried the other way, but there also she was met with stomping feet. Then she suddenly felt something pulling on her ankles, and she was dragged away from the two fighters. She turned her head and saw that two of the men had pulled her out of the fight zone.

"Hinata-sama, it may be best if you stay back for now," one of them warned. She only nodded, and pulled herself up. She could taste dirt in her mouth, and that certainly wasn't pleasant, but she didn't give it much thought. She couldn't help but stare at the two fighters. They were wrestling, either one trying to overpower the other with sheer force. They looked almost epic, like they were gods locked in an eternal battle. But just as fast as it had started, it ended. One of the team's men had snuck up behind the blonde and hit him dead on in the head. He slumped together in an instant, falling heavily on the ground since Neji didn't bother to catch him.

Neji was breathing heavily, and kneading his sore biceps. The other had obviously been strong. He stared down at the boy with poorly hidden disgust, and said:

"We'll bring him with us. It was probably him the two hunters saw earlier. I don't know what he's doing here or what he is, but we'll let Hiashi-sama make the decision of what to do with him. Hinata," he said and turned towards her. "If you ever expose yourself to danger by running away like this again, I'll make sure uncle locks you up somewhere far away."

Hinata just bowed her head. She had never been one to argue, and certainly not now when her cousin was so angry and probably lightly injured. But she was worried about that strange boy; she wondered what had made him so furious suddenly, and she was afraid that the blow he had taken to the head had been too hard. She didn't like letting injured people go without checking up on them, but Neji was so angry now that she didn't dare ask him, and the boy had been slung up on the shoulder of one of the men, tied on hands and legs, so she had no way of checking up on him either. All in all she would just have to wait until they came back. What a party that would be.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Their return to the manor resulted in quite a commotion. Firstly, they had returned with an unconscious, half-naked boy who was tied down on hands and legs, which was weird enough in itself. Secondly, when Hiashi had come down to inquire what they had seen, he had noticed how dirty Hinata had become and gone on a rampage. Currently Neji was being thoroughly scolded while the others could do nothing but stand as they were, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Thirdly, the boy started to wake up. Hinata could hear him give a small groan from where he was lying on the ground where he had been slung by the one who had carried him. She intended to rush over to him to check him up, but apparently one of the men had also heard him, and promptly strolled over to him and hit him unconscious again. She wanted to scold the man, but couldn't quite muster the courage to do so, and before she could do anything else her father bellowed:

"Hinata!"

She cringed, but hurried over to him nonetheless. She lined up beside Neji, who she was sure was looking at her quite sourly. It was her fault that he was in this mess, after all.

"The one time, Hinata, the one time I let you out on something I know may be dangerous, you manage to do something as stupid as to run off?!"

Hinata could hear that her father was trying to keep his anger under control, but he didn't manage completely.

"I'm s – "

"Do not try to give excuses!" Hiashi interrupted. "This is outrageous! I demand you explain me why you put yourself in such a danger!"

Hinata flushed. She didn't exactly want to say _why_ she had strolled away on her own, but knowing her father he would only build up more anger if she didn't relent.

"Um, I-I needed to, to use the t-toilet," she whispered, hoping that no one but her father could hear her.

Hiashi straightened, and said nothing more regarding her need for a toilet. But he obviously wasn't done just yet.

"Neji has informed me of what happened," he said and glared at her. "You encountered that boy over there, and he became violent when Neji tried to take you away." He looked at Neji, who nodded. "I will have nothing more of this sort, Hinata," he stated. "You will not leave the grounds unless you have company, and the woods are strictly prohibited! Am I being clear?"

Hinata just nodded, trying to swallow away the lump forming in her throat. There went that freedom.

"But as for that boy over there," he said, looking at the unconscious form on the ground, his voice serious. "What should we do with him?"

"Throw him in the lake," Neji muttered sourly. Hiashi overheard him.

"It does not look like he has had contact with humans at all. Neji informed me that you had told him that he had run together with a pack of foxes, is that right?"

Hinata nodded again. Hiashi pondered a bit, and then said:

"I am wondering what we should make of him. I do not know how dangerous it will be to have him here, but letting him out into the forest again is not an option. I am quite sure it was him the hunters saw. Maybe we could send him away somewhere, maybe to the government – "

"Can he not stay here?"

Hinata looked at her father with pleading eyes. He stared at her with surprise.

"Why?"

Hinata fumbled a little with the words.

"Well, because, um, i-it would not be good to let the government take him. You know how they are; they would lock him up in a cell as if he was an animal, and – "

"He is an animal," Neji interrupted. "It would be unwise to have him here, uncle. This time he attacked me, but what if he attacks Hinata next? She wouldn't be able to defend herself."

"That was a dirty one, Neji," Hinata thought angrily, although Neji could of course not hear her. She quickly looked at her father, who seemed like he was about to agree with Neji. She hurriedly continued. She felt pity for the boy; he had lived all his life in the company of foxes, without ever being able to meet his biological parents or other humans. And besides, she was lonely. She usually spent most of her days alone; her father was always tending to 'important business', as he put it, and Neji was out training most of his time. To have one to spend the days with would be fun.

"He will not try to harm me, father," she said calmly, hoping that he would believe her. He looked suspiciously at her.

"How can you know he will not do so?"

She hesitated. How should she answer? She had no proof he wouldn't do anything to her, but at the same time she knew that it just wouldn't happen. He had seemed nothing but genuinely curious when she had met him.

"He did not try to harm me when I was alone with him," she started carefully, watching her father's reaction. "I think the only reason he attacked Neji was because he came very abruptly on him, and that it triggered his defence instinct. He was completely calm until the search team showed up."

Her father looked like he was thinking it through, weighing the positive sides and the negative sides.

"You won't have to bother with him, I can take care of him and teach him basic behaviour," she hurriedly said. "I will make sure he does not disturb you in any way."

Hiashi stayed silent for a while, and Hinata desperately hoped that he would listen to her instead of Neji. After a little while he spoke up.

"He can stay for now. I agree with what you said about the government, but if he does _anything_ to cause the least bit of harm to you, he will be sent away."

With that Hiashi turned on his heel and marched towards the manor, leaving it to Hinata and Neji to figure out the rest. Neji gave a big sigh and rubbed his forehead, but nonetheless he went over to the unconscious boy.

"Hinata, turn away," he said as he crouched down.

"Why? What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to cover him up," Neji grunted. "We can't have him running around naked." Hinata immediately closed her eyes. A minute later Neji told her to open them again, and then the boy was clad in the blanket which had been strapped to the horse's saddle. He motioned for one of the men to pick him up, and then they also headed for the manor.

"We'll keep him in a locked room until he wakes up," Neji said. "We don't know how he'll react to his new situation, but if we have to knock him unconscious you must not interfere, Hinata. Do you understand that? He is strong, and you don't stand a chance against him if he decides to attack you."

Neji gave her a strict gaze, and she nodded. That would probably be the best to do, but she didn't like the thought of locking him up.

Two hours later, nothing had happened. The boy still hadn't woken up; the second blow to his head must have been a bit too hard, and Hinata was very angry with the man who had hit him. Surely it wasn't necessary to manhandle him in such a way? She was getting pretty bored with just sitting in the living room, so she decided to go down to where they had placed him and check how things were proceeding.

They had placed him in a room in a part of the manor which was rarely in use, so that he wouldn't present a danger towards the servants if he by any means got out. Hinata thought they were overdoing it a little; Neji had been on guard ever since they brought him in there, together with three other men, and they hadn't moved an inch.

As she was walking, she caught the sound of faint banging. It sounded like something was trying to force its way through a wall. It increased as she came closer to the room, and she felt a trickle of cold sweat find its way down her neck. She rounded the corner towards left, and she saw Neji and the others standing in a semi-circle around the door. The door looked like it was about to give in any time. It jumped on its hinges and a big crack was running from the top to the bottom.

"Neji? What's happening?" she shouted, and started running towards them.

"No!" Neji yelled harshly. "Stay where you are! Remember what you agreed to!"

"But - !"

The big, splintering sound the door gave interrupted her. For a moment the door looked like it tried to hold back, but then it tore in the middle as if it was a flimsy piece of paper.

"Hinata, get away!" Neji yelled, just before he was tackled to the ground. The boy looked more predatory than Hinata thought was possible; his eyes were wild, his posture was fraught and he fought with a fury she had never seen before. Both Neji and the other men were a little taller than him, but he still managed to hurl at least one of them away. Hinata wanted to scream for them to stop, but what good would that do? They would certainly not listen. Instead she did what she had promised Neji, no matter how little she liked it; she kept her distance, and watched as they fought. Neji and the others were starting to overpower him; one of them had managed to grab a hold of his right arm and pin it up against the wall opposite of the door. Another had a solid hold on his hair and yanked his head backwards in a manner that could be nothing but painful. Yet he was still trying to fight; Hinata could do nothing but admire his spirit. She hoped it would be over without anyone being wounded, but then she saw that Neji had picked up a large vase from one of the small tables standing in the broad hallway, and that he was obviously going to crash it down on the boy's head. She watched in horror as her cousin raised the vase over his head, and shouted:

"Neji, no!"

The boy's head whipped over to the left and spotted her. She flinched and took a step backwards. His eyes were shining viciously, but as he was watching her something in his eyes changed. He tore loose from the two holding him with a harsh movement and headed straight towards her. She was rooted to the spot as she saw him running towards her, seeing Neji staring at her fearfully from far away with that stupid vase still in his hands. The boy's running was fleeting and effortless, as if he had just had a good rest instead of fighting. He didn't look predatory anymore; his eyes were the same as they had been when she had first seen him, curious and innocent. He stopped short in front of her, and she didn't dare to move away. She just looked at him, willing herself not to look downwards. The blanket he had been covered in had fallen off during the fight, and he was now as naked as a newborn baby. He slowly reached out a hand, and patted her hair in the same way he had done in the clearing.

"Hinata!" Neji shouted. He and the others were running towards them, but she waved at them to stop.

"It's okay, it's okay!" she shouted, but it didn't seem like they cared about what she said. They were still going towards her, and she worried that they would start to fight again. It certainly seemed like the boy was up for one more fight. His body was tensing up again, and he turned and watched them with a growl.

"Hinata, _get away!_" Neji yelled furiously, obviously distressed. But before she could what he told her, she was suddenly spun around and two strong arms fastened around her. She was confused for a second, not quite understanding what had happened, but when she realised she blushed hard. The boy had a tight hold on her, and was backing slowly away from Neji and the others. It was clear that they were as shocked as she was. This was beyond what they had expected.

"Hinata...?" Neji said insecurely, at loss for what to do.

"Um... I think it may be best if you keep your distance. I think he thinks of you as a threat, so you shouldn't come too close. He'll probably let me go if you guys are gone."

Neji stared at her doubtingly.

"What if he doesn't?"

"Then I will call for you, okay? Father won't know of it."

Neji gave her one last doubting look, a hateful glare towards the boy spooning her and then motioned for the others to follow him as they left.


	3. Chapter 3

It took Hinata quite a while to make the boy let her go, but at least she managed to pry him away in the end. He had been very reluctant to loosen his grip; she did not know why he was being protective of her, but it was clear that he thought Neji was going to come back. With a stern 'no' she had managed to prevent him from coming too close to her. She watched carefully for any signs as to how his mood was. Neji was right; there wouldn't be much she could do if he turned angry again. As of now, though, he just seemed curious to her weird behaviour and his new surroundings.

"I can't have him walking around naked like this," Hinata thought, feeling thoroughly embarrassed. It seemed like everybody had left her; Neji had left since if he hadn't she wouldn't have been able to get the boy off of her, and her father had just stomped away after she had convinced him to let the boy stay with them, leaving her all on her own. She had no idea as of what to do, and she didn't know what to start with. She really needed a bit of advice.

"Hinata?"

Neji. Thank God. She had never been so happy to hear her cousin's voice.

"Yes?"

"Is everything ok?"

"Um, well, yes, at least I managed to make him let go. He calmed after you left."

Neji came up beside her, all the while keeping his eyes on the boy who had now gone tense again, staring at Neji with wary eyes.

"I'm going to talk to uncle about what we should do with him; it's not like he can make any use of himself." The boy growled a little, but Neji ignored him. "First of all he should have a bath to get that animal smell off of him. He stinks. And after that I'll make sure to find clothes for him."

"Who should bathe him?"

"I've already arranged that." Neji snapped his fingers, and a split second later two of his men bounced forth from around the corner and knocked the boy unconscious before he could even try to defend himself.

"Neji!" Hinata shouted angrily. "You can't knock him unconscious all the time!" Neji just gave her a 'so what?'-look.

"It's the only way we'll be able to handle him," he said, as if that was something everyone knew. He motioned for the two men (one of them was Hagane, Hinata noticed) and the two of them picked him up and hurried towards the baths with him, clearly afraid that he would wake up.

"I'll let some of the guys take care of cleaning him. He shouldn't have to be taken care of by women before he's decent. You've already seen too much." Neji turned to follow Hagane and the other man, which made Hinata glad. She wouldn't have wanted him to see her blush again.

With nothing else to do, Hinata went down to the kitchen to see if there was something there for her to do. There she found Sakura, one of the maids and her long time friend. She was standing with her butt in the air, cleaning a big pot and cursing as she did. When she heard Hinata's footsteps she straightened and greeted her with a grin.

"I heard you had a rough day?" she inquired, put away the rag she'd been using and sat down beside Hinata on the bench.

"I guess you could call it that," Hinata said and gave a tired smile.

"Finding a boy in the woods, almost getting smothered by him and then having to take him in here," Sakura said and pretended to think hard. "Yeah, sounds tiring enough. But seriously, who is he?" At the last part she lightened up like a candle, curiosity practically radiating from her.

"Well, that's what we don't know, right? The only thing we really know is that he is for sure a feral child, because when I first saw him he was running together with a pack of foxes." Hinata sighed. Sakura only looked riled up.

"Well, what more?" she demanded. Hinata gave a small laugh, saying: "I'm afraid there is no more to tell you. At least not as of now."

"Well, where is he now?"

"Right now Neji and two others are giving him a bath, so that's probably where he is.

Sakura huffed.

"Crap, I wanted to see him," she pouted. Hinata just gave a small laugh. She wasn't sure just how much Sakura would want to see him after actually having seen him. She hoped he wouldn't go on a rampage with her also, like he did with Neji.

She spoke with Sakura for a while, and then she left so Sakura could do her job without distractions. She wandered aimlessly around for a good ten minutes, and suddenly found herself nearing the baths. The door to the bath opened on her left, and Neji came out, looking thoroughly exhausted.

"Why do you look so tired?" Hinata asked.

Neji gave her a sour look.

"Your adopted animal woke up half-way through the bath. He made a huge mess of the entire place before we managed to knock him out again." He looked down at her sternly. "I hope you know what you're doing, Hinata, because if this keeps up he can't be here."

Hinata looked away. Of course she knew that. But they couldn't very well just throw him back into the woods, could they?

"You and I are going to uncle now," Neji continued. "We have to discuss what we're going to do with him." Hinata just nodded and followed after him.

The meeting with her father lasted too long for Hinata's taste. After Neji had told her that they had knocked the boy out _again_ she was worried as to how his head was right now. Surely he would suffer some kind of brain damage if they kept it up?

After they were finished talking (mainly about how Neji disliked the boy) she rushed out before either of the two men could stop her and made her way towards... Where exactly had Neji put him? She almost kicked herself. There had to be a limit to stupidity! How could she forget to ask?!

She was about to turn and go back to ask Neji when she suddenly heard a commotion coming from the hallway on her left. It sounded a lot like running feet and an occasional crash from what she assumed were the vases. She did not like how the sounds were moving towards her, but she thought she had a good idea as to who was making the noise. And she was right. Only a couple of seconds later her little 'adopted animal' as Neji so gracefully named him came rushing towards her, two men hot on his tail. He was somewhat dressed now, although his torso was bare and the pants he wore were simply Neji's old pyjamas. His face unmistakeably lightened up the moment he saw her, and she flinched. She knew what was probably coming, and turned to hightail the other way. She didn't get far, though, because he was fast and had soon caught up with her. His arms wrapped around her and crushed her against him. He was still damp, and small water drops dripped from his hair and down on her kimono. A small, satisfied sound came from him and she could almost feel his glee. She blushed, but at least he was covered this time.

"Lady Hinata!" Hagane yelled. He sounded frightened.

It's okay!" she said hurriedly. "Just don't come closer."

Hagane stared worriedly at her, but he reluctantly did as she said. She smacked the boy lightly on his arm, and said as sternly as she could:

"Let me go."

His hold on her loosened, as if he was unsure of what she meant, but when she pushed his arm gently away he let go. She turned towards him, and he was looking at her with such a lost expression that she could hardly keep herself from laughing. Hagane was staring at her with amazement and respect.

"That was amazing, Lady Hinata! How did you do that? All he's done up to now is going ballistic all the time!"

She smiled at him and was about to answer when a loud, growling sound emitted from the boy. She stared at him, and it took her a little while to understand what it was before she saw the hand he was holding over his stomach and understood that he was hungry.

"You're dismissed, Hagane. I have to find some food for him," she said with a small laughter and started to lead the boy towards the kitchen.

"Are you sure I shouldn't come with you?" Hagane said quickly.

"No, it's fine."

Hagane looked like he wanted to disobey, but he turned and left, glancing behind him every once in a while until he disappeared around the corner.

* * *

Hinata entered through the kitchen door, leading the slightly confused boy behind her.

"Sakura?" she called, and a moment later the pink-haired girl came jumping out from behind a counter.

"Hey, Hinata!" she said cheerfully. "Rare to see you so – " She fell abruptly silent when she saw the boy behind Hinata.

"Oh my Good!" she squealed in delight. "Is it him?! He's so cute!"

She jumped up and down, and Hinata couldn't help but smile at her exuberant best friend. The boy looked taken aback and a little suspicious, but he didn't do anything more than take a step away from Sakura.

"Could you maybe find some food? I don't think he has eaten for quite a while," Hinata said.

"Sure thing! Just take a seat and I'll see what I can find! We don't have much right now, though, since it's not dinner time right now."

Sakura rushed over to a cabinet in the far end of the room and started rummaging through it. It sounded like something shattered as she looked, and a muttered 'damn' could barely be heard. Hinata sat down on one of the simple chairs, and tried to make the boy do the same, but he blatantly refused.

"Of course, he has never used a chair before," Hinata thought and let him stand. Sakura came back with a sour look.

"We only have these narutos left," she said and put a bowl down on the table. "Can he do with those? It isn't more than a few hours until dinner."

"I'm pretty sure he'll do just fine," Hinata said and offered the bowl to the boy. He eyed it a little before he clumsily picked up one of the small fishcakes and sniffed on it. Apparently he decided it was safe, and ate it. It seemed he liked it, because all of them were soon gone and he constantly stared at the bowl as if expecting it to refill itself.

"It seems he liked it a lot," Sakura said and took the bowl away. The boy let out a small whimper. He obviously wanted more. "Why not name him after it? I assume he doesn't have a name."

Hinata smiled and thought it over. Calling someone up after a fishcake... It felt weird, but she hadn't really thought of anything better, so why not?

"It feels like we're naming a dog, though," Sakura mused. "What do you think? Naruto isn't such a bad name?"

"No, I guess it isn't," Hinata smiled and looked at the boy as he stood on tiptoes, looking for more food. "And I don't have a better suggestion."

"Okay, Naruto it is then!" Sakura announced gleefully. "Can you say that? Na-ru-to"

Hinata laughed at Sakura's failed attempt at learning Naruto his new name, and looked at him as he stutteringly tried to voice the unfamiliar word. She laughed together with Sakura when the boy finally had enough of it and refused to make another sound. He got up and started to pace around the room, pointedly ignoring them, and Hinata continued her chit-chatting with Sakura, all the time keeping half an eye on Naruto to make sure he didn't break anything.


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

The following evening Hinata found herself falling asleep faster than she usually would. The day had been taxing, to say the least, and getting Naruto to stay calm in the room where he was supposed to sleep had taken quite a bit of time, so the clock had been nearing midnight before she was finally able to put her head on her pillow. The boy had been very reluctant to separate from her, so reluctant in fact that Neji had found it best to lock the door before they left him. Hinata felt a little bad about leaving him to his own device, especially since he was expected to sleep in such an unfamiliar place, but there was little she could do about it. She turned on her side and felt heavy waves of sleepiness washing over her, and a minute later she was unconscious.

She awoke with a start after what only seemed like a few minutes. A massive crash was what woke her, followed up by yelling and faint stomping of feet. She glanced over at the clock on her night table, trying to keep her eyelids from closing again. It read a quarter past one. She groaned and slipped out of bed, swaying a little. Sleep still had a heavy grip on her, but she managed to hold herself up. Another loud crash came from downstairs. It sounded like someone had been flung into a wall. Hinata stumbled over to her door, having a good idea ofwhat was going on, and opened it. The hall was dark, but since she had the mayhem to follow, it did not bother her much. She reached the top of the stairs, and called gently:

"Uhm, excuse me, but what's going on?"

The commotion calmed down for a second, and then the silence was followed by several feet running up the stairs. She stood waiting, recognizing the easily recognizable mop of blond hair. Someone called her name, and she distinguished the voice to belong to Hagane. He sounded worried, and she should probably also be, but she just felt tired and a little peeved that this seemed to happen quite often. And just as she knew he would, a second later Naruto came jumping off the last stair, spotted her and lightened up in a bright, genuine smile. No questioning that it was her he had been looking for. She managed to stop him before he got his arms around her, but she still couldn't keep him more than two or three feet away from her. He seemed sincerely happy to see her, almost jumping up and down where he stood, and Hinata couldn't help but smile. She regarded the short-breathed pack of men in front of her with amusement, and could hardly keep her laughter no matter how tired she was when she asked Hagane what was going on.

He took a moment to catch his breath before he answered her, and when he did speak it was still with a huff. Clearly none of them were in the best of shapes, seeing as Naruto was hardly breathing any faster than usual.

"Neji didn't trust him, so he put the four of us on guard after you had left, Lady Hinata. He was calm at first, but I think he figured out that he had been locked up, and he didn't like it. Or maybe he understood that… that you weren't there. Anyway, he started pounding on the door and trashing what little was inside the room before we got in to stop him. He managed to push past us, and, well, now we're here."

Hagane straightened and glared mildly at Naruto. "I doubt he will tolerate staying confined, no matter where. I think you should reconsider where you place him, because we're simply not able to keep him in one place." He sent her a meaningful look, which probably was supposed to tell her something, only it didn't. She was about to ask him what he meant, but before she could do so they were interrupted.

"What is going on here?"

Hiashi strode towards them, and it was evident that he was not happy to have been woken up in the middle of the night. Neji followed right behind him, and judging by the scowl he wore he was very well aware of what had caused the disturbance.

Naruto reacted immediately when he saw Neji. He gently broke free from Hinata's loose hold on his arm, and held her close, all the while making sure that he was positioned between her and Neji. He stared at him with a distrusting glare, and Neji repaid it with an equally skeptical frown. Hiashi's jaw clenched when he saw the boy holding his daughter, but he said no more. He glared at Hinata, and with a small blush of embarrassment regarding her current… enclosure, she told him what Hagane had told her minutes before. Hiashi listened through, and when she finished he rubbed his eyes with a heavy, annoyed sigh.

"Hinata," he started and put down his hand again. "When I agreed to let you take this boy in, you said that you would make sure he was of no disturbance to me. I do not know how you regard this incidence, but to me this is a disturbance. I have an important meeting tomorrow, and would like to have fully rested before it. If this is something that will continue, he will have to leave."

Hinata felt an icy feeling fill her stomach, but she didn't talk back at him. After all, she had said that he wouldn't be a problem to anyone. Seemed like her promise came back to slap her in the face.

"I'll make sure it doesn't happen again," she said meekly, wondering silently just how she was supposed to prevent it. She wiggled out of Naruto's arms, and he looked just as offended as he had earlier, but she didn't care. It was just a tad bit too embarrassing to be held like that when everyone was watching her.

"How will you do that?" Hiashi prompted, but before she could think of an answer, Hagane spoke up. He spoke a little hesitantly, as if he was afraid of talking when he was not expected to.

"Forgive me for interrupting, Hiashi-sama, but I think he would keep quiet at night if he was kept in the same room Lady Hinata." He continued in a hurry, because Hiashi seemed to fire up when he heard that. "The reason he broke out now was to look for her, and you could see for yourself how he protected her up until a minute ago."

Hiashi's face was red as a beetroot, but he calmed himself and asked in a stoic manner: "Protecting her? From what, if I may ask?"

"Um, from Neji, I think. Ever since Neji tried to pull her away from him in the forest he has reacted by covering Lady Hinata's body with his own every time he sees Neji. I think he thinks Neji wants to harm her."

"That is ridiculous!" Hiashi snorted and sent a glare towards the boy. "Neji would never hurt my daughter!"

"Of course not," Hagane reassured him. "We know that. But he doesn't."

"So you are saying," Hiashi strained and sent Hagane a menacing glower. "That this – this _animal_ makes such a mayhem because he wants to be with my daughter, and should therefore sleep in the same room as her?!"

"That would be only reasonable, if you – "

"I will not allow it!" Hiashi bellowed. "You will see me dead before I let that thing closer to her than he already is!"

"He is not a 'thing', father, and neither is he an animal," Hinata said irritatedly. She had grown tired of how everyone treated Naruto like he was something of lower value than themselves, or as if he wasn't there at all. "I gave him a name, which is Naruto."

Her father's scowl fell for a moment.

"Naruto? But that is a fish cake."

"I know," Hinata said and felt her cheeks burn a little. "But Sakura gave him narutos when he was hungry and he liked them, therefore we named him after them."

Hiashi snorted, and so did Neji, so she sent them a timid glare. She couldn't blame them, though. She knew it was a strange name. But by now it seemed that the boy with the strange name had grown bored, because he started to play gently with Hinata's hair. This seemed to aggravate both Hiashi and Neji, because Hiashi strode over to her in two long steps and ripped her away from Naruto. His fingers were still tangled in her hair, and they pulled on her hair roots as she was dragged away and she let out a small whine of pain. Naruto reacted instantly. In a flash he was beside her, his arms going around her and ripping her away from Hiashi. A loud growl rumbled deep in his throat, and his grip on her was tighter than what it had been up to now. Hiashi stared at him, completely in shock, but Neji had seen it before and warily took a step back, remembering how that had helped before. Hinata tried to calm her father, but he seemed to only work himself more and more towards his peak of rage, and it didn't help that Naruto was constantly trying to drag her away from him. She dug her heels into the floor the best she could and made him let go with a small smack on his arm and a stern 'let me go'. He let go, but not without a small snarl, and he kept close.

"Father, please calm down," she said calmingly, silently begging that he would listen to her. The last thing she wanted was her father and Naruto to fight. "He didn't mean to – "

"I will not have him oppose me!" Hiashi roared. "If he is to stay here I demand he keep his hands to himself and does not show such inappropriate behavior!"

"But he doesn't know better, father! Remember how he has lived until now! He hasn't had any contact with humans, and – "

"Doesn't matter! He will behave!"

Hinata understood that her father would not budge, and relented with only a nod. Then came the next issue: How would they keep Naruto calm at night? It was Hagane who brought it up, after a little silence. Hiashi fired instantly and told them loud and clear no; his daughter was certainly not to sleep in the same room as a boy. But as the increasingly sleepy Neji and Hagane laid out their reasoning, he became more and more wavering, and in the end he gave in. It took them a good hour of convincing, though. But he had demands; Naruto were to be on the other side of the room, tied to the bed, and there had to constantly be guards outside the door. And Hinata wasn't allowed to approach him, either. Hinata didn't seem to have a say in the matter, and she didn't really care. The thought of having a boy in her room was a lot less disturbing when said boy had no idea what it would normally involve.

After Hiashi was finished with his ranting, he added as an afterthought: "Is this all right with you, Hinata?" He looked like he hoped she would say no, so that she could give him an excuse to throw Naruto out. Hinata only gave a slight nod, and Hiashi scowled. Naruto stirred behind her, obviously becoming impatient. Hiashi shook his head, and with a sigh he turned to leave.

"Hagane, Kiba, follow Hinata and that…boy back to her room. Make sure that he cannot reach her in any way."

Hagane and Kiba gave a short nod, and with that Hiashi left. Neji followed soon, after he had dismissed the rest of the men. He gave Hinata a worried glance before he left, but she only smiled at him to tell him not to worry. She could handle this, or so she hoped. The only thing she didn't really feel comfortable about was that her father had ordered Naruto tied up. She knew little of the boy, but she was fairly certain that he wouldn't agree to it.

The two men said nothing as she led them into her room, obviously a little aggraveted since they had to take the first shift. She blushed a little, painfully aware that it was for her sake they had to keep awake, but she pushed most of the blame on her father. She was quite sure that Naruto wouldn't harm her, and so she had tried to tell him, but he had pointedly ignored her. As he always did.

"Uhm," Hagane started uncertainly. "Where should we put him? There's not an extra bed here." He looked pointedly at Kiba, expecting him to come up with an answer. Kiba in his turn looked at Hinata.

"I-I guess he can sleep on my couch," she said and looked at said furniture. It wasn't the biggest sofa in the world, and he would probably have to curl up a bit, but at least it wasn't the floor. Both of the men nodded in agreement, and pulled out a rope. Naruto instantly tensed behind her, and she could feel him take a wary step backwards.

"Wait!" Hinata exclaimed and took a quick step toward them to stop them. "I-I don't want you to tie him up."

Both of them looked confused. "But Hiashi-sama ordered it," Hagane said and looked unsurely at Kiba. Kiba just shrugged and lowered the rope. "Doesn't matter to me," he said and flashed both Hinata and Hagane a grin. "For the moment it is Lady Hinata who gives the orders, and not Mister Almighty himself."

Hagane cringed at the way his companion addressed their master and made ready to scold him when Hinata gave a small, quiet laugh. He stared in surprise at her.

"Lady Hinata…?"

"Please, I don't want him to be tied up like an animal," Hinata pleaded, grasping Hagane's hand lightly. Naruto stirred behind her. "Father doesn't have to know. Please?"

Hagane blushed and muttered something about being killed by Hiashi for not following orders, but he couldn't really disobey her either. So it ended with them leaving, Hagane casting wary glances behind him as they closed the door. Hinata and Naruto were left in a dim darkness, but Hinata compensated for it with lighting some candles. Naruto regarded her curiously as she used the matches to light the candle, and flinched away when she lifted it up and turned with it as if he was afraid that she was going to set him afire. Hinata couldn't help but laugh a little at the snubbed expression he wore, and guided him towards the couch. She tried to make him sit down, but no matter how much pressure she put on his shoulder it seemed he still didn't understand that he was supposed to sit. A chair in a kitchen was one thing, but something as scary as a soft couch was obviously a heck of a lot worse. She gave up when he gave her a small glare, afraid that she had annoyed him. She was left standing there for a minute without really knowing what to do, and then she figured she'd show him. Gods, all the things she had to do.

"See here now," she told him. He followed her with his eyes, curious as ever. She lay down, feeling just a little bit embarrassed, got up and then mimicked for him to do the same. This time it seemed to work. Albeit a little hesitantly, he lay down, awkwardly putting his hands in front of his head. He looked up at her, as if to see if she was satisfied, and she offered him a small smile. She went over to her bed, picked up one of the blankets covering it and laid it over him. He stared puzzled at her, but didn't stir. She told him goodnight, to which he didn't answer, lay down on her own bed and pulled the covers over herself and blew out the light. It only took her a few minutes to fall asleep.

* * *

Hinata wasn't sure, but sometime during the rest of the night it felt like an extra warmth came sneaking into her bed. She was barely conscious, so she just settled with how good it felt and slipped into unconsciousness again.

TBC

* * *

A/N: Ok, from now on updates are going to take a while longer. The chapters I have posted up until now I have moved from my dA account. And seriously, when I re-read them I noticed how crappy they are. I'll do much better in the chapters to come.


	5. Chapter 5

Hinata studied Naruto out of the corner of her eye. The little porcelain figurine portraying a horse went from one hand to another as he played with it, trying to figure out what it was. His blue eyes focused solely on the figurine and took no notice of anything else. Hinata thought that she could probably have thrown the couch out the window and he wouldn't have noticed. She envied him the ability to be so completely lost in such a simple thing; she would definitely like to have that ability. At least now, after what had happened the same morning, she needed to get her thoughts over on something else.

She had woken up earlier than usual, because of an immense heat. She thought for a panicky moment that something was burning, but when she looked around in the dimly lit room, she saw no trace of orange flames licking their way up the closed curtains, and neither could she smell smoke. She turned around, intent on continuing her sleep, but came face to face with a hot breath on her face. Feeling overly uncomfortable, she turned around again. Her mind was too fogged with sleep to really register anything, but when it finally did as she wondered more and more what was really happening, she tore away the covers and jumped out of the bed faster than she would have run from an angry dog. Her hair whipped at her face as she spun around and stared at the bed. There, on her white satin covers, lay Naruto, soundly asleep and looking as peaceful as a newborn cub. Talk about a surprise wakeup. She had been so confused, dizzy and all over bewildered that she had fallen over, which in turn made Naruto wake and jump on her with a happy smile.

Breakfast had been an embarrassing event. Hinata had tried to keep herself from blushing as she tried to learn Naruto how to use cutlery, which he didn't get at all. Both Neji and Hiashi had watched with a growing frown as Naruto eventually brushed away Hinata's hand with the fork she tried to make him hold and started eating with his hands. She had made sure they left as quickly as possible.

Naruto put down the figurine and looked around. He noticed Hinata looking at him, and with a feral smile he came towards her. Hinata blushed and quickly looked away, but he came closer nonetheless. She could smell him; he smelled of the soap he had been bathed in, a sweet, clean smell of lavender. Neji had used _her_ soap on him, the nerve. A faint smell of plain forest lay underneath, and made for a strange, but fresh mixture. He stopped a few feet or so away from her, and remained there. Hinata was thankful for that. This was more than awkward enough already, and he wasn't exactly helping.

"So, Naruto, what do you want to do today?" she chirped with a voice so full of false cheeriness that it gave her the chills. He gave her a curious look, and tipped his head to one side as if to ask: 'What are you saying? Tell me in a way I can understand!'

"Umm," she said nervously and looked around to see if there was something that could help her explain. "Urgh, I don't know how to tell you – "

She was interrupted quite elegantly when Naruto placed a careful finger on her lip. He managed to tug a little on it and send her an intrigued glance before she tore away, spluttering and red as a tomato. He followed, and before she could stop him he once again put a finger on her lip. She was rendered completely unable to act, disbelieving at the curious stare he gave her.

"U-um – "

Once again, a new tug. She thought she was starting to understand what he wanted. To her it seemed like he was, in his own innocent way, asking what she was doing when she was talking. He had probably never heard anyone talk before he came to live with them. Somehow, that didn't make the matter less embarrassing for her, sadly enough.

She gently pulled his hand away, and instead pointed on her lip herself.

"These are my lips," she said, emphasizing the word 'lips'. She tried to ignore the red roses crawling over her skin. "_Lips_, can you say that?"

"L-lipps," Naruto drawled. The word came out awkwardly and sounded unfamiliar, and it seemed he almost curled his tongue in the effort to try to voice that one word. "Lips."

"That's right!" she beamed up at him. "Lips! And this is my n – "

"Lips."

Naruto was suddenly way too close for her liking. He once again put a finger on her lips, stilling the word 'nose' which was about to slip out, and whispered the word again. He seemed completely absorbed in his own little world, and Hinata pushed him away with an annoyed yet embarrassed shove.

***

"Neji and I will be leaving here for a couple of days."

Hinata looked up from her lunch. Her father continued.

"Apparently there are complications with our punctuation of the last months, and the cargo of one of our ships didn't keep the standard we put. So _unfortunately_," he grumbled and sent Naruto, who was watching in awe at how Hinata used the cutlery, a glare with barely concealed dislike, "we have to attain a meeting regarding the cleaning up of this mess. We won't be gone longer than three days."

Neji nodded his consent, and Hinata uttered an agreeing sound. It was unusual that her father had to go to the harbor he owned to handle everything; normally he did it from his office here, at the manor. She knew his business consisted of trading and shipping, but other than that she had no specific interest in it. Neji was the one who was going to take over anyway.

"I'll leave you with the responsibility for this place and the servants."

Hinata nodded again and said; "Yes, father."

Naruto perked up when he heard her talk. Hinata quickly put a piece of her lunch in his mouth just as he opened it. Luckily Neji and Hiashi didn't notice. He had fallen into the bad and extremely embarrassing habit of saying 'lips' every time Hinata spoke. Hinata wasn't sure, but she thought she might die from sheer embarrassment if her cousin or her father ever heard him say that.

***

She saw them off an hour later, after gently but repeatedly reassuring her father that she would make sure that 'that boy' kept his hands to himself and behaved.

"And try to teach him basic gentleman behavior," Hiashi added sourly before he stepped into the carriage with Neji following suit. Naruto let out a small growl from where he stood behind Hinata's shoulder at the glare Neji sent him. Hiashi told the coachman to get going, and a moment later all Hinata could see was the dust cloud left by the horses' hooves.

* * *

A/N: It's very short, I know. But what's going to happen next has to happen as the start of a new chapter. At least I think so. :P Hope you enjoyed it either way, and remember: Review equals win, not to equals fail. -.-


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto had been acting weird ever since Hiashi and Neji left, Hinata thought. He seemed restless and uneasy. He dragged her around the entire mansion, on constant lookout for something, and when they eventually came back to where they had started, he grinned as is he had just realized something that made him very excited.

Hinata dumped down on a nearby chair and breathed out slowly. She couldn't remember ever having walked this much in one go. She watched Naruto cautiously from where she sat. She didn't like the devious grin he wore.

And neither did she like it when he suddenly whirled around, grabbed her hand again and dragged her up. She tried to swat his hand away, but he didn't react.

"Naruto, I'm tired, can't you just let me sit for a whi – oof!"

She was just a tad bit too startled to resist when Naruto grabbed her around the waist and flung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He started padding down the hallway, headed for the main entrance, with Hinata bumping up and down like a limp sack of shocked potatoes.

Hinata wondered what the hell was going on as she struggled to make Naruto put her down. He had run straight through the halls and out the front entrance, and to Hinata's despair, they hadn't met one person. Where were all the servants when she really needed them?! Naruto's behaviour both scared and annoyed her, because it had seemed so unlike him to do something as unforeseen like this. His shoulder wasn't exactly comfortable, either. With a sinking feeling she saw that he was heading for the woods, and in that moment she thought she understood what he was doing. He was going to bring her to what he regarded as his home, the forest!

Hinata's first thought was that she had to beware of all the bugs, but then her reason returned just as they reached the outer edge of the woods. Damn, the kid was fast! She supported her hands on his back, ready to bitch his ears off to make him let her go, but failed to notice a low branch which a second later crashed into her head with a mind-numbing force. She slumped back down, completely unconscious.

* * *

When she woke up, she just lay still for a moment. Her head felt like it was about to split in half, and a constant drumming behind her eyes refused to yield. She held her eyes closed and just listened, terrified of whatever could be near her. When she didn't hear anything, she cracked one eye open and eyed her surroundings. Dark stone walls, a small draft flitting over her skin and when she turned her head, the sight of thick, green forest met her eyes. She was in a damn cave. In the middle of the damned forest. And where was Naruto? Upon sitting up she realized she was alone, and panic seized her. Where was he? Had he just grabbed her, ran off with her and then left her to die? She couldn't believe it.

She got up and stumbled over to the opening, on shaky legs because of the chill. She peeked out, on guard for everything suspicious, and had to stifle a small gasp. There was nothing but thick forest outside, large and somewhat menacing trees staring down at her from the top of their canopies, laughing at her confusion.

She slumped down on the ground again, back sliding against the cave wall. This sucked. What was she going to do? No one but the servants was at home right now, and they were so busy they wouldn't miss her until dinner time, and she might very well be dead when that time came. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, feeling tired despite obviously having been unconscious for a while. Saving herself would have to wait for a while, she wanted to sleep.

She lay down on the hard ground, feeling peeved at not being able to find a comfortable position, but she didn't care enough to do something about it. She let herself slip away, but just when she started to relax, a rustle outside made her jump up, looking around wildly. A shadow fell in through the opening, and for a short moment she thought her heart would fail on her, but when Naruto walked in a second later she almost fell over in relief.

"God, Naruto, you scared me so mu – " Her voice hitched when she saw what he was carrying. A dead hare dangled from his hand, neck broken and gut torn open. It was an awful contrast to the boyish, happy face looking at her. She reeled away and tried not to show her distaste too obviously, but it almost became too much when Naruto crouched down, still wearing Neji's old pyjama, and offered the corpse to her. Holding her breath and pushing him away she told him shakily 'no'. He looked confused, but settled beside her and, to Hinata's disbelief, started digging away the fur to get to the good stuff. She bolted up and with a small whine she escaped outside and vomited on the stone ground. She heard Naruto's rapid footsteps behind her and felt him put his arms around her, putting his face close to her to check if she was ok. He wrinkled his nose at the smell form the bile and tried to drag her back, but she resisted. She had no intention whatsoever of going back in there as long as that dead hare was still there.

Naruto gave up eventually and went back in. Hinata tried not to listen to the sounds he made while he ate. Hands clutching her stomach, she got up and seated herself further away from the cave and waited for him to finish.

"This is," she thought to herself, "by far the worst day of my life." What the hell was she going to do? She couldn't find her way back, because she had no idea where she was, and she didn't trust herself to be able to fend for herself, without anyone to help her.

"I have to make him understand that he has to take me back," she determined. "Some way or another..."

"Naruto?" she called gently, and only a moment later he came out, to Hinata's dread wiping away a thin trail of blood from his mouth. Swallowing the bile that was rising in her throat, she beckoned him closer, and he dumped down with a content smile beside her.

"Naruto, I need you to take me home," she said, catching his gaze to see if he understood. He beamed happily at her, as if she had just told him Christmas came early. Not that he knew what that was, of course.

"Naruto," she tried again, "Take. Me. Home."

No response.

She sighed, and looked miserably at the blondie in front of her. "What am I supposed to do to make you und – "

Naruto's finger was suddenly prodding gently on her lower lip, one slim finger trailing its way all across. It stunned her for a moment, but only for so long before she grabbed his hand and jerked it away, heart beating rapidly. He stared at her, obviously confused, and tried to free his hand, but it seemed like her hand had frozen in its place.

"What in the world?" she thought, studying his face intensely. "If he wasn't acting strange before, he certainly is now." She held his hand down as he once again tried to free it. "What are you trying to do?" she said, keeping her voice low. This time she noticed how he studied her lips as she spoke, and then it dawned on her that he might be curious about exactly what she was doing when she spoke. Yes, maybe that was it...

She nearly laughed a bit at it. He seemed like such a child. She put a finger to her lips, and slowly and clearly pronounced the word 'lips'.

"Lips. These are my lips. Can you say that?" She gave him an encouraging nod, and seemed to get it. The first couple of tries only produced something that sounded like 'fibs', but on the fourth try he managed 'lips' quite nicely. Hinata beamed at him.

"Great! You're doing great! Now see here, this is my arm. Arm, can you sa – "

"Lips." His finger was once again brushing carefully over her lips, tracing the pattern it had taken only a moment before. He repeated the word over and over, as if to carve it into his memory. That's where Hinata called it quits. She got up and stomped off, leaving Naruto confused and alone.

"That's where I draw the line," she thought as she headed past the first trees. She felt as if her face lit up the entire forest floor, she was so embarrassed. Besides, this seemed to have come a little out of hand, and the faster they got back home, the better it was. She didn't turn to see if Naruto was following her, but she was pretty sure he did. And a second later sounds of soft feet behind her confirmed her suspicion. She hoped Naruto would take both the hint and the lead, and show her the way home, but he kept behind her, and even though she pondered how to, she couldn't figure out how to tell him to take her back. God, the things she had to suffer through....

* * *

She didn't know exactly how many hours they had been wandering around; the only thing she knew was that when she saw the forest becoming thinner and the faint contours of the village, she was ready to topple over with relief. She was hungry, thirsty and had a desperate need to see something that was thoroughly cooked and cut up. She started to run, and Naruto followed quickly. She was glad that he hadn't done anything weird during the time they were walking, although she was still a bit pissed at him for running off with her like that.

Hinata almost felt like kissing the ground when her feet had brought her safely into the village. In the distance she could see her home, and she couldn't wait to get there. With her hopes high for a dinner waiting for her, she headed home through the streets, making sure that Naruto came with her and didn't start anything. And speaking of Naruto... People seemed to be staring at him. Probably no wonder. A half-naked boy clad in old pyjamas wasn't something people saw every day, and that showed. She blushed and tried to ignore it, but when a man, the local baker, came up to her, it became a little difficult.

"Lady Hinata," he said unsurely, with an askew look at Naruto, "is everything all right?"

" Yes, it is," she said. "How come?"

The baker looked like he didn't exactly what to say. A bit like a fish on dry land. "Well, it's just that – well, this, uhm, gentleman behind you seems to be, well – " he leaned closer, "_half naked_."

"I am indeed aware of that, and we are on our way home to correct that."

The man cast a look Naruto's way, who was studying the pastries that had been put out with childish curiosity.

"If I may ask, who is he?"

By now a small crowd of inquisitive villagers had formed around them, obviously wanting to know why the Lord's daughter suddenly was among them when no one had heard anything of it.

"He is a boy we found in the woods here. It was he people thought was the animal that the hunters have been after. We're taking care of him for the time being."

The female part of the crowd aawed, and even some of the men looked less leery.

"Milady, are you sure that is safe?" a woman spoke and came forward. Hinata regarded her with a smile and a nod.

"I do not believe he would do harm to someone who did not threaten him. He is very gentle. Naruto," she beckoned, and Naruto came out from the bakery he had just disappeared into to investigate further and came up to Hinata. A joint, small gasp went through the crowd, although one reaction stood out more than the others. A small woman, half hidden behind the other people, red hair and blue eyes, let out a choked, strangled sound and her eyes went wide. She stumbled backwards a few steps, and just as the man beside her was about to ask her if she was all right, she turned and ran. Hinata stared after the retreating back. How strange...

She felt warm fingers envelop her hand, and found Naruto clasping it, staring at the crowd with worried glance. He didn't seem to have noticed the woman, nor did anyone else. Strange it was indeed.


	7. Chapter 7

The following few days after their little tour of the woods were more or less eventless. Hinata wondered a little about the red-haired woman she had seen among the crowd, but she soon left her head as the more demanding task of teaching Naruto common sense occupied more and more of her time.

Hinata had tried to teach him some more words, but Naruto seemed to be stuck on the one word she had learned him during their little adventure, and a detour from his recently acquired ability to a one-word conversation seemed an impossible goal. Not to mention he had no idea of when to utter it and not. Sakura had had the laugh of her life one morning when Hinata had brought him down for breakfast. He hadn't waited longer than until he saw that Hinata was on her way to say 'good morning' to Sakura to put his finger on her lips and say 'lips' in such a raspy morning voice that Hinata actually had to do a double take to be sure it really was him. Sakura had enjoyed it immensely, of course, and told them with an almost predatory gleam that she knew where this was going.

Hinata sighed as she thought about it. Sakura had her own way of going about things, that was for sure. She glanced over at Naruto, who was sitting cross-legged on her bed, playing with the yarn she was using to knit herself a scarf. She had had some success with teaching him some new words, despite his lack of interest. It seemed as if he was much more interested in everything that went on around him, much more so than learning to communicate. Hinata could understand it, though. At lot was new to him.

"Naruto?" she called out to him, and he looked at her with an almost childish gleam in his eyes. She put away her knitting work and scooted closer to him. "We're gonna go outside, okay? And I'll teach you some new words from the outdoors."

He cocked his head, and looked at her with a stare that told her he didn't understand at all, so she grabbed his hand and dragged him up gently. He followed willingly, a smile spreading slowly as he realized they were going out.

The weather was getting chillier, and she made sure she forced him into a warm jacket and mittens before they entered the garden. He seemed displeased, because he was constantly tugging at the garment and trying to wring his hands out of the mittens, frowning when Hinata tugged them back on.

"You have to keep them on, you'll get sick if you don't."

He pouted at her, and he seemed so childlike that she couldn't help but laugh a little. Physically he seemed to be her age, maybe a year or so younger, but he was still a child in so many ways. She touched the mitten she was wearing, and said the word slowly and clearly. He reacted immediately; he obviously understood what she wanted, and he uttered the word to the best of his ability, but it sounded more like 'vittons' than 'mittens'.

They wandered the garden most of the afternoon, and though Naruto seemed to lose interest fairly quickly, she had at least managed to teach him a few new words. "And thankfully", she thought, "he hasn't mentioned my lips at all. I'd like them to be left alone for a change."

Naruto had been with them for a week now, and it had already started to feel natural. The thought startled her a little, that she could so easily accept responsibility for a human being. Most likely it was her maternal instincts kicking in, Sakura had said when Hinata had warily aired her thoughts to her. "He's like a child who needs to be raised, therefore the overly large loving side of your heart takes completely over. If there is anything to be taken over at all."

Hinata sat down on a bench and watched Naruto play with a stick he had found. Sakura was right; he was a kid in so many ways, but still… He had the body of a nearly full grown man, and though his features were smooth, they held none of the roundness typical for a child. Not to mention the look in his eyes when he fought with Neji; predatory and almost dangerous. But for some or another reason, it didn't bother her, that animalistic side of him. It seemed so far away, so distant, when she watched him jump merrily after a frog he decided to pester.

"Naruto," she called to him, and he immediately left the frog alone and turned his attention to her. "I'm going back now, are you coming with me?"

Much use in even asking, she thought amiably, when he jumped to attention the moment she got up from the bench. At his feet, the frog jumped away as quickly as it could, probably glad to be free of his would-have-been uncertain fate. Naruto leaped gleefully towards her.

"Like a child," she thought.

* * *

"Lips."

Hinata groaned inwardly. Not again.

"Oh Naruto, I thought we were past this! Could you at least _try_ to say the words I'm teaching you?"

Instead, he reached forward to touch her. She pushed him away with an annoyed huff she couldn't quite conceal.

Sakura laughed from her place on the kitchen bench. A partially chopped carrot and a knife lay beside her, silently at ease.

"He's not going to give up, so you might as well indulge him and give him a kiss," she teased and slid down from the counter. Hinata grazed her with a glare. "You should rid him of the habit, though; what would you do if he did that in front of your father and Neji?"

Hinata groaned, and Naruto looked worriedly at her. Truth to be told, she had forgotten that her father would return the following day. Her mind had been much too preoccupied with other matters entirely.

"Sakura, you have to help me. Never mind father, Neji would go ballistic if Naruto practiced his infatuation with my lips in front of him!"

"Then indulge him once. Give him a quick kiss, he'll probably be sated then."

Hinata fixed Sakura's smirking face with a glare.

"You might be my best friend, but you really are short on a couple of brain cells."

Sakura tsk'ed. "My, such words. But seriously, it might help. Frankly, it's the only thing I can think of that maybe could help."

Hinata stared at Naruto with dismay. Naruto tilted his head and stared back at her curiously in reply, obviously not getting the gist of things and exactly how much worry he was causing Hinata. She gave him a head-to-toe. Though it might not hurt to look at him, he was certainly no kissing material! Not to mention that she hadn't ever kissed anyone before, and she didn't want her first to go to someone who might not even know how to appreciate it properly.

"Forget it," she mumbled. She pointedly ignored Sakura's comment about her red cheeks and left her to her carrots.

* * *

Hinata had just finished her breakfast together with Sakura and Naruto when she heard the unmistakable sound of a carriage draw up outside the front door. A jolt of nervousness flew through her. Neji and her father were back, and Naruto had acquired certain habits she absolutely didn't want them to find out about, therein his love for the word 'lips'.

"What am I going to do if he starts doing something weird again?" she asked Sakura, who looked utterly uninterested.

"I don't know," she answered truthfully and with an unmistakable air of indifference.

Hinata sighed, and threw a half-glare Naruto's way. He looked back at her, a tiny question forming in his eyes. "Poor him," she though and felt her lips draw up into a little smile, "he doesn't understand that his nemesis has returned."

"Let's just get going, before your dear Neji gets his panties in a twist," Sakura said and rose from her chair. "If you don't show up within a minute of his arrival, he'll probably think that Naruto has run away with you." She gave a wicked smile. "Oh, my mistake. He already did that."

Hinata gifted Sakura with a not very ladylike gesture and stomped out of the kitchen, Naruto following right after like a protective shadow. Sakura snickered and started clearing away the dishes. Her best friend was just too cute sometimes.

* * *

The servants were in the process of unloading the luggage when Hinata came down. Neji and her father were on their way in through the grand doors, and she hurried down to them. Naruto followed closely, therefore she easily heard the small growl that slipped from him when he spotted Neji. She rolled her eyes and mentally crossed her fingers that he wouldn't go straight for Neji's throat again.

"Father, Neji, welcome home," she greeted them when she reached them. Her father regarded her levelly before he thanked her and turned to hand his coat to a servant. Neji just looked at Naruto coolly, a gaze Naruto without a doubt returned in equal measures. Hinata stifled an annoyed sigh when she felt his arms sneak around her, and tried not to look at Neji's frigid glare. Though it wasn't directed at her, it still made her uncomfortable.

"He's still clinging to you like that?" Neji said through loosely clenched teeth, obviously wanting nothing else than to push Naruto far, far away.

"Well," Hinata timidly, silently contemplating whether she should speak her next words or not, in fear of insulting her cousin. "He, uhm, he hasn't done it once while you were away. This was the first time since you left."

Neji snorted. "He doesn't like me because he thinks I'll hurt you?" He gave Naruto a once over, clear contempt in his eyes. "Well, isn't he a stupid one."

"Don't call him stupid," Hinata scolded. "He doesn't understand everything yet, but he will in due time."

"I'll wait in excitement, then."

Hinata narrowed her eyes and prepared for a little rebuke, but her father interrupted.

"Your bickering is hardly appropriate. Leave that for elderly ladies and sailors. We have far more pressing matters to attend." Making sure that the two of them were paying attention, he continued. "I met a man two days ago whom I think will be able to help us with this… little problem." He gave Naruto a once over. Hinata didn't very much care for that, and silently felt a little sorry for Naruto. "His name is Hatake Kakashi. He studies human behavior and psychology, and we came to talk about that boy. He seemed genuinely interested, therefore I asked him to come here. We can await his arrival at noon tomorrow."

Hinata raised an eyebrow. A total stranger in their house, close to Naruto whom she knew could be unstable around strangers? The thought didn't appeal much to her at all.

Seemed like things were going to get hectic in the near future.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I had to cut it off there, because I have to decide what's going to happen next. If you find any typos or mistakes, then please tell me, because I know I hate those annoying little mistakes when I read, therefore I don't want them in my stories.  
And of course I had to bring Kakashi into the story. XD


	8. Chapter 8

At noon the following day Hinata was patiently waiting outside in the courtyard with her father, Neji and a not quite willing Naruto. They had been helping the gardeners tend the garden, a task it turned out Naruto cared very much for, and cared very little to leave.

As the carriage with the anticipated guest arrived, the party noticed that there were not one, but two people sitting inside. Halting the horses, the coachman jumped down and opened the door. Out came the person Hinata assumed was Hatake Kakashi. He looked somewhat strange to her; silver hair in wild disarray, his left eye covered in what appeared to be a black silk cloth, and to top the madness; a mask covered the entire lower half of his face. Indeed he seemed much like a very strange person to her. Naruto didn't stir beside her.

After him came a young man, probably a year or so older than herself, and placed himself beside Hatake. Donning black hair, pale skin and refined features, she could practically hear Sakura swoon already. "Sakura will probably pester him to no end," she thought to herself, and skilfully suppressed a smile. To her surprise, though, she could clearly hear Naruto omit a low, animalistic growl when he spotted the other boy, and she quickly pinched his hand to warn him to keep in place. He glanced over at her, growl replaced with curiosity and a slight hurt at the fact that she had actually _pinched_ him, but she ignored him and instead greeted the visitors.

"Hatake," her father said and strode forward to shake hands with the man. "I was expecting only you. Who is this young man?"

"Ah," Hatake said, and Hinata was taken aback at the lazy drawl of his voice, "this is my assistant, so to speak. Or my secretary. Either way, he usually accompanies me when I'm called away somewhere and need someone to take notes for me. His name is Uchiha Sasuke."

They were a strange pair, Hinata thought to herself. While Hatake's hair was silver to the point of white and gravity-defying to the point of ridiculousness, Uchiha Sasuke's was black, and formed a strangely attractive cowlick. Half of his face was hidden between bangs, but a pair of black eyes shone through and pierced her with an oddly stern stare, like he felt three times his real age. He looked like he considered himself far above everyone else.

* * *

Their arrival just missed dinner, which meant that Sakura, instead of sitting down with her beloved book, had to go down to the kitchen and heat up some of the leftovers. She did so, albeit grumpily and swore that Neji had some kind of secret vendetta against her.

At the table, her father discussed the 'annoying' matter at hand, aka Naruto, with Hatake Kakashi. Her father's approach to the subject irked Hinata. Was there really no other name he could find to refer to Naruto with than 'this obstacle'? It seemed, though, as if Hatake was a bit more observant than his laid-back appearance gave him credit for, and he quickly steered the conversation so that he was speaking to Hinata, not her father. Hinata obliged him in his attempt, and sent him a silent 'thank you' in her head.

"You said you found him in the forest near the estate," Hatake said between mouthfuls of re-heated chicken. Beside him, Sasuke picked on his own food.

"Yes," Hinata answered, watching how Sakura was sneak-peeking at them through a crack in the hallway doors before she returned her attention to Hatake. "I found him, or rather, he found me, during a search we conducted throughout the forest, as my father had heard rumours of an unknown animal residing there."

"And how did he act when you ...met?"

"He seemed friendly enough. Not afraid, like the pack of foxes he was running with. And..." Hinata halted.

Hatake raised a quizzical eyebrow. "And?"

Hinata blushed. She hadn't told her father the exact details of everything that had happened when they found Naruto, and she doubted Neji had either. Now both her father AND Hatake would know at the same time. Great.

"Well, he, um, he touched me – "

"TOUCHED YOU?"

A loud crash indicated that Hiashi had just sent his chair tumbling to the floor in his hurry to get up. He was rapidly working up a rather impressive shade of red, and his fisted hands were visibly shaking as he tried to angry-glare a hole in an unknowing Naruto, who was in turn angry-glaring at Sasuke. "HE ACTUALLY – "

"Continue, please," Hatake said through Hiashi's rant and his own mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Well, he didn't touch me in the way my father obviously thinks he did. It was just my face, and... h-he petted my hair." Hinata sincerely hoped she wasn't blushing as vividly as she felt she did, but judging by Hatake's smirk, she could probably be the lost cousin of the beetroot.

" – I WANT THIS MONSTROSITY OUT OF HERE – "

"And then what happened?" Hatake inquired, waving his fork as if he was trying to flap away something annoying. He didn't even bat an eyelid when her father snapped the knife from his hand and used it to pin an unfortunate napkin to the table. "He must be used to this, however that is possible," Hinata thought, before she answered him.

"He, well, _sniffed_ for lack of a better word. And that was when Neji found me. It kind of escalated into a fight between him and Naruto when Neji tried to take me away."

Hatake stilled for a pregnant moment, a pensive frown painting his features.

"So," he said after some silence, "he is obviously very protective of you, am I right?"

When Hinata nodded, he continued; " He is protective of you, and doesn't like neither your father nor Neji. And from what I've seen this far, he doesn't like Sasuke very much either."

" – UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL I ALLOW – "

Hatake fell silent again. Hinata absentmindedly watched her father rant at Neji for 'not taking good enough care of her' as she waited for Hatake to finish thinking.

"Well, then that will be the first thing we will take care of," he said simply, and with a disturbingly happy smile to her he continued eating. Taken a bit aback for a moment, Hinata waited for him to continue, but when it became obvious that the food held his focus more than her, she settled for calming her father down and making Naruto not attack her father, as he seemed to be well on his way to do if she was any judge of feral children with an overprotective streak.

* * *

The next day started a tad bit too early for Hinata's liking. Hatake himself came into her room to wake her (with a frying pan and a metal spoon, no less) even before the sun had started to rise. He insisted that 'early to bed, early to rise' was a motto his dear mother herself had taught him when he was young, but when a grumpy, sleep-tousled Sasuke pointed out that 'early' did not mean 'before the birds wake' his glee had somewhat diminished. Naruto had just shifted and slept on after identifying the sound as non-lethal, until Hinata gently shook him awake. So therefore, half an hour later, Hatake, Sasuke, Hinata and Naruto found themselves in the drawing room, watching the clock on the far wall slowly ticking towards 5 A.M.

"So," Hatake started cheerfully, "what we'll do today is getting to know this kid," he pointed towards Naruto, who looked quizzical, "and let him get to know us." He pointed to the rest of them.

"And we couldn't do this at a decent hour of the day because...?" Sasuke grumbled, obviously lacking sleep and not liking it.

"Because I felt like doing it now."

Hinata could only stare at him, catching Sasuke's eyerolling in her peripheral vision. Judging Sasuke's lack of vocal resistance, it seemed he was well versed in the complexity that made Hatake's mind, but Hinata wondered if her father had made a wise choice when he asked this particular man to help them with Naruto.

Throughout the session, which involved waking Naruto, who had fallen asleep on Hinata's shoulder, her opinion of Hatake changed, though. He seemed to know what he was doing, from the way he handled Naruto's dislike of nearly all males, to how he, at the end of the session, actually had managed to make Naruto stop his growling at Sasuke. It seemed like a big step to Hinata. If only they now could get him to stop trying to fight Neji...

* * *

That evening, as she was sitting at her desk, drawing, Naruto suddenly left the fascinating, half-knit sweater she had been working on since last Christmas and came up behind her. She didn't acknowledge him at first, but when he tugged on her hair she turned.

And found him much, much closer than she was comfortable with. His head was leaned over her shoulder, and he wasn't looking at her, but at the drawing she had in front of her. It was a bluebird she had seen earlier. Naruto seemed fascinated with it. His intense blue eyes perused the drawing with poorly concealed curiosity and enthralment. And then they shifted back to her, and a shock, almost electrical, went through her. For a mere fraction of a second his eyes were no longer childish and innocent, but darker, deeper, and she felt herself become completely absorbed in them. Her breath became the tiniest bit shorter, and some unexplainable feeling knotted in a pool in her stomach. It left her breathless, and she didn't even notice when he turned away again, obliviously and happily ogling her half-finished drawing. Shaking her head, she tried to uncoil the turmoil in her head. This could only mean trouble...

* * *

Hatake's plan for the next day involved more socializing and 'getting used to Sasuke'-ing, and also included the first steps of teaching Naruto how to speak.

"I understand you have already tried to teach him some words," Hatake said, voice shaking with mirth, when Naruto suddenly plopped down in front of Hinata during one of the lessons and uttered his beloved word, 'lips'. Hinata didn't think it was humanly possible to blush as much as she did at that time, and it left her with a pronounced stutter throughout the rest of the day.

Her father came and visited in the afternoon, to 'mark their progress', as he said. He left with a sour air when Hatake told him, quite patiently, that there would be no progress to mark until well into next week. Naruto didn't fancy having to sit still for the amount of time needed to force a few words into his skull, so Hinata had to bribe him with quite a few fishcakes to get him to stay calm.

In the evening, Kakashi took Hinata aside and questioned her further about details of her and Naruto's meeting.

"What I would like to find out is why he seems to be so excessively attached to you, and why he's so hostile towards especially Sasuke and Neji. As far as I know, there's no obvious reason to this; I haven't seen it in the cases I've studied earlier. They tended to be more apathetic and indifferent, rather than being as energetic, lively and curious as Naruto is. At the moment, I think that he lived the first couple of years with humans, his parents, I guess, and then was somehow lost in these woods, and then the foxes must've found him." He shrugged. "To me, this seems to be the most likely explanation. At least as of now. We'll just have to wait and see how things turn out."

Hinata nodded to this, and added: "I can to some extent understand why he doesn't like Neji, and to a certain degree my father, but why he would dislike Sasuke the moment he met him I can't really fathom."

Kakashi gave an indifferent shrug, in an overly 'I-don't-give-a-shit' way. "We'll figure it out."

After Kakashi had left her, and brought Sasuke along with him, Hinata was alone in the living room with Naruto. He had been picking up the framed photos on the mantelpiece one by one, and now he padded over to Hinata with one of them in his hand. Plumping down in front of her, he held it out to her. She recognised it immediately. Taking it, almost timidly, she studied the person on it with an almost sad smile.

"This is my mother," she said, and showed it to Naruto again. "She died when I was very young."

Naruto studied it intently. "Mother?" he repeated, and he sounded positively quizzical.

She smiled. "Yes. And you probably have one, too." She could see that he didn't understand what she had said, but it didn't matter. If everything went as it should, he soon would.

A sudden knock almost startled her out of the chair she was sitting in.

"Who is it?" she called, and a second later the door was tore open and in came Sakura in a flurry of pink dress and frills. Hinata tried to keep her mirth at bay when she saw her.

"What in the world are you wearing? Isn't that the dress you used for your 18th birthday?"

"Yes!" Sakura exclaimed, quite happily "It is!"

Hinata waited for the rest, or at least an explanation, but when none came, she said: "And what is the occasion?"

Sakura flung herself down in the chair beside her. "Don't tell me you didn't notice him?"

"Who?"

"That guy who came with Hatake, Sasuke or whatever!"

Hinata quirked an eyebrow. "And how is this related to you playing dress-up?"

Sakura sent her a flat look, looking miffed. "You're so gullible sometimes, Hinata. Didn't you see how hot he was? I'm so gonna get him. And the first step to that is," she pointed at her dress, "is to dress nicely."

Hinata just shook her head and laughed, both at Sakura's 'obvious' reason for wearing the dress and Naruto's expression as he perused it, and couldn't help but wonder how her life had become so strange in such a short amount of time.


End file.
